Graham Rice's New Plants Blog

Editor-in-Chief of the RHS Encyclopedia of Perennials; writer for a wide range of newspapers and magazines including The Garden and The Plantsman; member of the RHS Herbaceous Plant Committee and Floral Trials Committee; author of many books on plants and gardens.

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Hydrangea aspera is a lovely shrub with large and colourful summer lacecap flowers and interesting peeling winter bark. ‘Hot Chocolate’, with its chocolate brown foliage, adds another colourful feature. It’s the broad, 20-30cm, lacecap flowers which are the plant’s main appeal. The ring of large pink...
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Attractive ruffled florets bring a fresh new style to hydrangeas Pale backs to the petals add a little extra flair Pale green buds complete a harmonious pastel look Flowers can be pink or blue Reaches a manageable 4ft/1.2m in height New hydrangeas seem to be arriving with increasing speed. This is partly...
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After a long time out of fashion, hydrangeas are again proving popular with many new varieties introduced in recent years. And not just new forms of the old favourites, the mophead and lacecap Hortensia types. Other species are being developed as well. Hydrangea arborescens 'Annabelle' has been...
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After many years of being unfashionable - dependable but never exciting - hydrangeas are enjoying a revival. This is partly because some of the best new varieties flower for far longer than the old ones, the ones still gamely flowering late every summer in your grandmother's garden. Now, we have...
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Here's a run down of the six new plants posts featured here on the RHS New Plants blog December. Two new epimediums: Now available Two impressive new hydrangeas: From the RHS Online Plant Shop Linaria ‘Peachy’: New from Special Plants Digitalis Polkadot Series: New hybrid foxgloves from seed Five...
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Two excellent new hydrangeas have recently been introduced from the United States. Both are forms of Hydrangea arborescens and both feature unusually large heads of flowers which are held on strong stems from July into the autumn. Incrediball (‘Abetwo’) (above, click to enlarge) produces enormous heads...
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Hydrangeas that flower all summer are a relatively new innovation but they are now being grown more widely. The Endless Summer Collection started it all off and there’s a new addition to the series now available. The trick with these repeat flowering hydrangeas is that they flower on both the old growth...
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